The invention is directed to folders for paper sheets, especially EDP paper sheets, the lateral margins of which respectively include at least two spaced punched holes, comprising a carrier body which is provided with resilient line-up pins for receiving the paper sheets through the punched holes, and comprising retaining means for fixing the line-up pins and the paper sheets.
Such folders are commercially available and are used, for instance, to accommodate computer-printed lists, programmes, evaluations or the like. The paper sheets may either be discrete paper sheets or stacks of zig-zag folded paper sheets. To this end the feed holes, which are in any case provided on the sheet margins, may be utilized.
FIG. 1 schematically shows a conventional folder 10 of the specified type. A stack of broadside paper sheets 12 will be apparent which are provided with equi-distant punched holes 13 on the margins thereof. Line-up pins or sheet retainers 16 are passed through the extreme outer punched holes 13, said line-up pins or sheet retainers also passing through holes 15 formed in a clamping bar 14. A respective slider 17 is pushed onto both ends of the clamping bar 14, the slider interior accommodating the projecting end of the line-up pin or sheet retainer 16 and turning it down when pushed towards the clamping bar 14.
To cover the paper sheets 12 the known folder 10 comprises a soft cover sheet 18 of synthetic material which is joined to the clamping bar 14. The bottom side of the assembly, which is not illustrated in FIG. 1, is similarly configured. The line-up pins or sheet retainers 16 have knitting-needle shape of any desired length and their two ends are turned down by the respective sliders 17. The bottom side of the assembly is provided with a further clamping bar 14 for accommodating the line-up pins or sheet retainers 16.
Such folders 10 of conventional design have, however, a number of drawbacks. As the cover sheets 18 are made from soft, thin material, such folders 10 can only be stored in horizontal position, because they have no stability. But since the back region of the folder 10 is thicker than the opposite side, a wedge-like body results, and several such bodies can be stacked only with difficulty because the oblique stack will easily start sliding.
Moreover, there is not only one size of paper sheets, especially of EDP paper sheets, but there exist different sizes. Both upright sizes having punched holes along the longitudinal sides and broadside sizes having punched holes along the transverse sides are known. In addition to that, the dimensions in longitudinal and transverse directions are also by no means uniform. Even though the usual EDP paper sheets have almost DIN-A4 size, the standard dimensions thereof, which are 210 mm .times.297 mm, are normally not satisfied. Rather, there are upright sizes having a height of 305 mm and a width of 235 mm, 240 mm and 250 mm. In the case of broadside sizes, these have a height of 203 mm and 228 mm and a width of 305 mm, 315 mm and 322 mm.
With the conventional folder of the above-described kind, this fact is taken into account by providing the clamping bar 14 at the ends thereof with a plurality of spaced holes 15 so as to achieve an adaptation to the paper sizes. But an adaptation is possible only to a slight extent; a folder designed for EDP upright sizes cannot be used for EDP broadside sizes, and vice versa, because the differences in length of the clamping bars would be far too great.
But the adaptation of a folder within the range of the respective upright sizes, on the one hand, and broadside sizes, on the other hand, is quite difficult. The clamping bar 14 must in any case have the length of the maximum EDP paper size. When EDP paper sheets of somewhat smaller dimensions are to be filed, the line-up pins or sheet retainers 16 may be re-positioned as indicated in FIG. 1, but in that case the clamping bar 14 will clearly project beyond the stack of paper sheets 12 at least on one side thereof. While this results in an unsightly appearance, there is also a risk of injury to the user.
The FR-PS No. 2,095,449 discloses a similar folder of the specified kind, which comprises a bottom and a top as loose discrete parts which simultaneously constitute clamping bars. To this end bottom and top include mutually opposite pairs of openings for receiving line-up pins or sheet retainers, one of said pairs of holes being constituted by slots to provide some possibility of adjustment to paper sheets of different width. But this does not result in a stable asembly, because the folder has no back and there is only a loose connection between bottom and top by the line-up pins or sheet retainers themselves. Moreover, the punched holes of the paper sheets are subjected to high loads in such a known folder and may easily suffer damage or be torn out, because the line-up pins themselves are but loosely arranged in the slots and insufficiently secured. Moreover, this known assembly is unsightly because there is no back at all. In practical use, the adjusting facilities are quite insufficient, because only one size can be accommodated in the assembly. A selective accommodation of broadside and upright sizes is not possible with the known assembly. When paper sheets are to be added or removed, the assembly must be taken apart, and the top must be removed completely.
The DE-GM No. 1,983,046 describes a top bar for arrangements for lining up perforated records, said top bar comprising two relatively displaceable bar portions to thereby adjust the overall length of the top bar to the respective application. The DE-GM is silent about the problem of accommodating paper sheets of quite different sizes in one and the same folder and also about the storage of the folders themselves in such a way as to eliminate storage problems.
It is therefore the object of the instant invention to provide a folder for paper sheets, especially for EDP paper sheets, which may be readily stored and ensures the protected accommodation of paper sheets and is suitable for upright-size and broadside-size paper sheets, and which provides for simple and versatile adaptation to different dimensions of the paper sheets.